Taking its cues from French farce and the grand British tradition
of working-class comedies such as The Full Monty and
Brassed Off, Seducing Doctor Lewis is a charming, if
predictable, film.

This French-Candian production is set on the remote island
village of St-Marie-La Mauderne, off the Canadian coast. The
island's populace, once a thriving fishing community, is now almost
entirely unemployed thanks to depleted fish stocks. Every fortnight
the men of the village queue despondently for their welfare
cheques.

Hope arrives when a plastics manufacturer offers to build a
factory on the island. But there's a catch - the factory requires a
resident doctor. Like many parts of rural Australia, the island has
had plenty of trouble attracting doctors. But self-appointed mayor
Germain (Raymond Bouchard) hatches a plan to get a GP.

Enter Dr Lewis (David Boutin), an arrogant, cocaine-sniffing
plastic surgeon who, through an amusing set up, is sent to work on
the island for a month. Germain leads the community in an effort to
seduce the doctor into staying, continually changing elements of
the island to suit the newcomer's tastes. This includes,
hilariously, an attempt by the locals to convince the
cricket-loving doctor that the community loves the game as much as
he does. From an Australian perspective, the scenes featuring the
French-Canadians attempting to decipher the rules of cricket are
particularly amusing.

The film invites comparisons with TV's Northern Exposure
- another tale of quirky rural locals bemusing a city doctor. The
comedy is clean and warm-hearted even, as director Jean-Francois
Pouliot admits, a little naive. Those looking for a deeper analysis
of the issues faced by remote communities may find the story too
lightweight. That said, Seducing Doctor Lewis manages to
give you the same feeling as an old woollen jumper - warm, cosy and
safe.